Investors Purchase High Volume of Delta Air Lines Call Options (NYSE:DAL)

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 118,927 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 316% compared to the typical daily volume of 28,568 call options.

Delta Air Lines Price Performance

Delta Air Lines stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $79.85. The stock had a trading volume of 5,319,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,651,009. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.29. Delta Air Lines has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $95.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $85.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.27.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The transportation company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $17.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.43 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 5.79%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Delta Air Lines will post 6.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.215 per share. This is an increase from Delta Air Lines’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Delta Air Lines’s payout ratio is 14.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Delta Air Lines news, President Peter Carter sold 39,900 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.98, for a total transaction of $3,709,902.00. Following the transaction, the president owned 424,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,488,977.92. The trade was a 8.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David G. Dewalt sold 31,756 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.85, for a total transaction of $2,885,032.60. Following the sale, the director owned 22,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,031,224.30. This trade represents a 58.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 356,726 shares of company stock worth $33,081,037 over the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 8,578.7% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 18,516,676 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,734,272,000 after buying an additional 18,303,318 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Delta Air Lines by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,211,101 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,680,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,265 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,413,841 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,215,766,000 after purchasing an additional 202,865 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,182,646,000. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,395,096 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $582,620,000 after buying an additional 46,341 shares in the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $112.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 24th. Argus set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Evercore boosted their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.84.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

Delta Air Lines, Inc is a major U.S. airline that provides scheduled passenger air transportation throughout the United States and to destinations across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The company also offers air cargo services and operates a loyalty program, SkyMiles, along with related travel and customer services.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Delta operates a network of domestic and international routes through hubs and focus cities that include Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, New York, Salt Lake City and Seattle.